Saturday, August 11, 2007

Pre-Order

Here is a brief description of the book from one of the online booksellers:

One of the most fascinating conversion stories of the 20th century, My Father Was a Gangster tells the dramatic life story of Jim Vaus, the former associate of crime syndicate boss Mickey Cohen. Rarely, if ever, has there been another story of a gangster who turned so radically from a life of organized crime to a life focused on leading others to Christ. In this book, son Will Vaus tells the inside story of his father’s nefarious life in the syndicate and describes how close his father came to being caught for devising a scheme that was later said to have been the inspiration for the movie, The Sting. Just before carrying out his plan, Jim Vaus was persuaded to drop into the famous Billy Graham tent meetings taking place in Los Angeles in 1949, and almost against his own will, found himself compelled to “walk the sawdust trail” to the front of the gathering and along with hundreds of others, give his life to Christ. The author then describes the dramatic transformation that took place in his father’s life as he makes amends for his many wrongs and sets his course on a new life that is honoring to God and that brings many others into the Kingdom. This story has been recounted in Time Magazine, Life Magazine and Reader’s Digest and was chronicled in a motion picture, The Wiretapper. Now it is told from a son’s perspective, a son who watched his father go on to live an exemplary life, dedicated to saving others from falling victim to the life of crime that had sought to destroy him.

Release date: November 10, 2007

Interestingly enough, the release date of November 10 was a very important date in my father's life. But you will have to wait for the book to learn more about that . . .

Heard your father recount his testimony on a reel to reel tape or cassette tape in the early 1960's in Carnarvon North Western Australia, I think I may still have a well used copy of it somewhere. It is one of the most astounding and inspiring testimony I have heard. For some reason this came to mind in my meditations this morning, so I did a websearch and came across this site. Great to hear his testimony is still inspiring people. God Bless. Jim & Beth Dixon, Australind, Western Australia

About Me

is a pastor and author. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama from the University of California at San Diego and a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. Will is the Pastor of Stowe Community Church in Stowe, Vermont. He and his wife Becky have been married since 1988 and have three sons: James, Jonathan, and Joshua.